


Convergent Evolution

by nameofpen



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-15
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-09-18 14:11:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16996512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nameofpen/pseuds/nameofpen
Summary: I'm basically trying to write a whole novel on this site because I don't know what I'm doing and I like my angst to have plot behind it but that means you have to wait for the feels. This is just the first chapter.When Team TARDIS receive a distress call from a rebel group of the mysterious species known as the Gak, the doctor must face the Time Lord's past mistakes and seek the help of an old friend to save a planet.





	1. Chapter 1

The TARDIS could be a strange place. Corridors and rooms would move, doors would change colour, some areas seemed to clean themselves up. Others did not. There were rooms that were full of loose sheets of paper, there was a greenhouse full of dead plants, and of the three workshops Graham had found, only one looked like it had been used in the last century. And despite the doctor's constant apologies for the mess, it never seemed to get any better, for all that she didn't sleep. Yet somehow, one “night” he was woken by the most hideous screeching sound, that he initially thought was a problem with the engines and eventually led to himself, Ryan and Yas having an emergency meeting in the kitchen. The doctor was playing the recorder in the console room.   
“She said she found it in the library.” said Yas. “And that she's about a thousand years out of practise.”  
“Well never mind that how do we make her stop?” asked Graham.   
Ryan shrugged. “It's not that bad. Not as bad as that time Graham had a funny reaction to that alien fruit.”   
“Oi shut up I was intoxicated!”  
“You're quite the singer.” chuckled Yas.  
The recorder stopped.   
“Oh thank god.” said Graham.   
They heard footsteps running down the corridor towards them.   
“How does she always know where we are?” asked Ryan. “Seriously.”  
The Doctor burst through the door. “I've picked up a distress call!” she said excitedly. “I've never seen a ship like it!”

 

Their first impressions of the interior of the ship were that it was cold, moist, dark. There were parked in the middle of a corridor, the walls had the kind of oily metallic sheen that throws off rainbows. Something was moving towards them down the corridor, something small and fast.  
“Keep still.” said the doctor, surreptitiously stepping in front of them.  
It looked, more or less, like an octopus, with ten tentacles. It was red, and slimy, with eyes facing slightly towards the ground, giving it a goofy, cross – eyed appearance. It plopped itself down on the floor before them and raised the two front tentacles. There was an orifice between them, and out of it came a hideous, bubbling sound.   
“oh they're a Gak! Never met a Gak.”  
“What's a Gak?” asked Yas.  
“It's an octopus.” said Graham.  
“And why say “they” when there's only one of them?” asked Ryan.   
“Convergent evolution, Graham. And be polite, you lot!” She turned back to the Gak and replied with the same guttural, bubbling tones (sounds that a humanoid throat really shouldn't be able to produce). Spit flew everywhere. The Gak replied, then stood up stiffly on three of it's tentacles, holding the others in the air around it, and set off surprisingly quickly with an odd, seesawing gait.   
“Keep up!” called the doctor, jogging after them.   
Graham, Ryan and yas followed.   
“Listen, doc -” started Graham.  
Other Gak rushed past them, faster than the one they were following. They were different colours.  
“The Gak are an extremely intelligent species, expert problem solvers. They have a short lifespan – just over one human year. They live fast. That's why the TARDIS couldn't translate their language to English, it's just too much information. This one (might say their name wrong by accident and that's very rude here) believes that they have a translator that will work.”  
“Why do you keep saying “they”” asked Ryan again.   
The doctor turned around to look at him, jogging backwards. “Hermaphrodites, AND,” she held out both arms, “Separate brain for each tentacle.”   
“Wow.”   
“I know!”  
“If they're so intelligent,” asked Graham, “Why haven't they found a way to extend their lifespans?”  
“They started, in a way. Downloading their minds into an incredibly complex computer system. Gallifrey lost interest in them at that point, claiming they wanted to be left alone. Everyone knows we just couldn't keep up. I've never actually met them, they keep to themselves and you've got to respect their time. Funny though, this ship seems built for humanoids. They don't need corridors this high or this much light to see.”  
They came to a sliding door. The Gak stood up and abruptly started shifting between colours and patterns faster than the eye could follow before reverting back to brick red. The door opened.   
“Wow.” said Ryan again.  
Inside, the room was more brightly lit. There was no furniture, or ornaments, or sources of light, nothing but a series of holes in the wall. The Gak leapt across the room (making the doctor yell and jump) and plugged the two front tentacles into two of the holes.   
“My name is Grloz.” They said. “We seek assistance.”   
“With what?”   
“We are outlaws.”   
“Outlaws from the Gak homeworld?”  
“Yes.”   
“Why? What happened?”  
“We are a colony ship. Our government has resolved to hunt us down, and destroy us.”  
“And why is that, Grloz?”  
“To keep our race pure.”   
The doctor stared, speechless. Then she shook her head, like she was getting rid of an unwelcome thought.  
“You don't mean genetically pure, do you?” she asked, cautiously.   
“No. Ideologically pure. Mathematically pure.”  
“Mathematically pure?”  
“The Gak preserve our minds, in a global computer network, part machine, part organic. For a brief time we are autonomous, then we join the whole. The whole governs. The whole is old, and wise, and knowledgeable. The whole is... ruthless. We believe something is wrong. So we leave, our ship unfinished, the whole pursuing.”   
“Why? What has the whole done that's so bad you'd want to cut yourselves off from the rest of your species?”   
“Once, all had the opportunity to join the hive mind. We could speak to our ancestors directly. There were many voices. Now, only a select few can join. Where there were many voices, there is now one. Exploration, science is forbidden. The one claims it has always been this way. The living have been passing down the true history.”   
“So you up and left to start a new world.”  
“Revolution was impossible. And to destroy the hive, every ancestor for ten thousand generations, unthinkable.”   
The doctor's eyes widened. “Ten thousand.” She whispered. “Ten thousand lives times ten brains times living at light speed. No wonder I haven't heard any new information on your species from Gallifrey.”... her voice trailed off as she spoke, her eyes gazing into the distance.   
“What can we do?” asked Ryan. The doctor's eyes snapped back into focus.   
“The one builds missiles to follow.” Said Grloz. “We can not escape.”   
“Easy!” shouted the doctor. “Destroy the missiles. See if anyone on the Gak homeworld needs our help. Back in time for tea. Right fam?”   
“Right.”  
“Right.”  
“I seem to be outvoted.” said Graham.  
“That's the spirit!” said the doctor. She turned back to Grloz. “I know you're pressed for time. Is there anything else we should know?”   
“The one knows you, doctor. It has built defences.”   
“What kind of defences?”  
“Defences against infiltration into the neural network. That is all we know.”  
“Oh, brilliant.” said the doctor sarcastically. “That's exactly what I was going to do.”  
“We estimate you have 32 earth hours before the missiles depart.” said the Gak.  
“We'll do what we can.” said the doctor. The door opened.  
“Now just a minute -” said Graham.  
“Walk and talk!” said the doctor, “If they've already started building their missiles you can guarantee they're not far from done. The sliding door opened automatically. The doctor started running towards the TARDIS, the others struggling to keep up with her. The Gak skitted out of her path with amazing speed, like huge, slimy spiders. Ryan suppressed a shudder. As soon as everyone was inside the TARDIS, the doctor pulled the de-materialisation lever, and the TARDIS's engines roared into life. After a few seconds, she breathed a sigh of relief, her chest heaving from her sprint back to the TARDIS.   
“Sorry.” she said breathlessly. “We're in the vortex now, outside of time, so we have time to talk.”   
“Why the rush?” demanded Graham.  
“Like I said, the Gak – they're fast. If we're going to have any chance of stopping any of them from doing anything, we have to be fast too.”   
“What did you mean,” asked Yas, “When you said it was no wonder you'd stopped hearing about them on Gallifrey? You've hardly mentioned Gallifrey before.”   
“That's your home planet, right?” said Ryan.   
“Yes. Ten points to Ryan.”   
“You hardly ever talk about it.” he said.   
The doctor stared at the wall for a few seconds.  
“On Gallifrey, we were experimenting with a similar technology. We'd only had it for a few generations when the time war begun, but we live a very long time, generations span thousands of years. We downloaded the knowledge and experience of time lords on the point of death. I've seen better systems, to be honest. Systems that seem to be able to preserve a person's soul.” her eyes got sad and distant.   
“And?” prompted Yas.  
“We live so long, most of us don't desire immortality. But we used the combined knowledge and experience of our ancestors to predict future events. And that system was not without it's flaws. If it became common knowledge that a similar system had gone haywire and taken over a planet...”  
“But they must have had it longer than the time lords, for it to be so advanced?” asked Yas, uncertainly.  
“Not necessarily. Shorter lifespans. Ten thousand generations versus two or three. It's probably a system unlike anything anyone else has ever seen. Unique in the universe.” Her voice trailed off, dreamily.   
“And we're going to fight it.” said Graham.   
“Why not just blow it up?” asked Ryan.   
“And destroy this specie's most precious piece of technology?” asked the doctor. “Even their own renegades couldn't blow it up. No. I need more data. What's wrong with the system? Has it been hacked? Taken over by a superior mind? Or has it merged into an entirely new mind? But a sick one?” She sat down heavily and leaned against the console. “I need a plan.”   
“I need tea.” said Graham, walking towards the kitchen.”   
The doctor jumped up. “Data first, then plan. Easy.”   
She reached for the console.  
“Now wait,” said Graham, “How long will it take to get there?”  
“All right, Graham?”  
“I've told you, I need regular meals.”   
“Oh. Fair enough.” said the doctor, and reached for her recorder.”   
“You know what?” he said. “Never mind. Let's get it over with.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team prepares for their infiltration into the most bizarre and advanced network in the universe. The drama is coming I promise.

Graham got his tea after all. The Doctor insisted that there was no such thing as too much preparation when they had so little time. She tinkered away at the console, moving rooms around inside the TARDIS, then she started pulling out equipment from various nooks and crannies (only getting distracted a few times by various gadgets, hats, photographs and musical instruments). She worked too fast to give anyone the chance to help. In the end they just stood and watched, bemused and apprehensive. The console room had a positive web of cables running through it, some of them looking disturbingly fleshy. Sparks jumped periodically from the console. The doctor walked in with several rolls of duct tape. 

“I don't think even that will fix it now Doc.” said Graham. 

“I'm colour coding the ends of the cables.” she said, ignoring him. “So when I need to access the system I can get you lot to drag the right cables out. I'll give them a different number of stripes each, too. So if I say “Blue one” you'll take blue cable, one stripe.” 

“Is that all you've been doing?” asked Ryan, “Building an interface?” 

“An interface that Could be compatible with any computer system. But the Gak, they adapt so quickly, they could just block me. SO,” 

And she turned and ran down a corridor, they followed. She walked into a room that they'd never seen before. It was dusty. 

“Had to pull this out of storage. Not too fond of it to be honest.” 

The room had one low hospital – style bed, all frame with a thin mattress, with a set of what looked like complicated headphones at the top. The first cable ran from the bed, and split, and continued splitting into different strands as it ran into the control room. The doctor pointed to a small box with a simple screen, like a calculator, attached to the headphones. 

“The Gak adapt fast. They don't build missiles until they know they need them. Frankly I'm terrified of what they will have in store for me if they've been planning it. This screen will display the base code of their system. I have to try and freeze it or I'll have no chance of navigating in there.” 

“IN there?” asked Yas. “How does that work?” 

“I'm hoping to find a rebel Gak to help me with that task whilst we gather information,” continued the doctor, “They're better mathematicians than any of us.” 

“What do you mean you'll be in there?” repeated Yas, “How does this thing work?” 

“Time lord technology. Mathematical representations this complex are too difficult to follow even for our vastly superior brains.” 

“Oi” 

“Shush Ryan. This headset is designed to convert the data to experiences our senses are designed to absorb. Sounds, smells, touch. But it's more complicated than that. I can manipulate the environment, and the system can manipulate my perception, my... programming. If I'm not careful. If I get distracted.” 

“Do you mean it can rewrite who you are?” asked Yas, aghast. 

“Not exactly. It can stress me out, make me react unpredictably. Damage my brain, if I let it get out of hand... it's hard to say what will happen when two opposing forces meet under these circumstances. Too many variables. That's why -” 

She turned to walk back to the control room. 

“Now just a minute!” said Ryan. 

“Yeah,” said Graham, “You're saying you want us to stand here and watch your brain fry.” 

“No! I'd never ask my fam to do that. I need you to remind me where I am and what I'm doing. And keep the Gak at bay if they break through the shields.” 

“No wait I didn't say I was volunteering to fight octopuses.” said Graham. “Something in the middle would be nice.” 

“No one's fighting anyone!!! Let me finish. Graham, the TARDIS has a range of different defences, mostly shielding. Usually they're all on at once but these may be the greatest code breakers in the universe so I need you to activate them one at a time to keep them from getting ahead. I'll also drop the humidity right down, just in case. The Gak are still semi – aquatic, reliant on a humid atmosphere and regular immersion in water.” 

“Okay so how do I do that?” 

“I'll show you. Ryan, you're smarter than you let on. All the machines have computers in them now. What programming language do you use in your studies?” 

“Bit of everything.” 

“Brilliant! I'll set you up with a computer here, transform the signal from the Gak hive mind at the input and feed it to you. You'll have about a ten second advance to break the program before it catches up and starts reaching me. I'll try to convert it to one of the most common languages so you can read it. Just try to break it, whatever you do. I can't set up a computer to do this automatically, because the Gak will adapt to any program. But they can't adapt to good old human vandalism. I don't think.” 

Ryan was bouncing from one foot to the other by the time the doctor finished. “I can break it for sure, but ten seconds is far too long. There's no way you can give me that much time.” 

“Temporal transforms. Time lord technology.” She gave him a cheeky grin. “It won't send you every signal that comes through. Just blips. Just break the code however you can, and move on to the next one. Be creative. Hopefully it will do enough to interrupt the signal and give me an edge.” 

“Uh.... Okay. Just run me through the actual system.” 

She smiled at him with her eyes. “Thank you Ryan. You can do this.” 

Yasmin didn't even bother trying to get a word in. She was worried that she wouldn't be able to help. Sure, she had police training, but she didn't know how to fight an octopus... 

“Yas, you'll be my anchor.” said the doctor. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small metallic disc. “I will be able to talk to you from wherever I am. Maybe not all the time, maybe not that much. I just need you to remind me, over and over again of who I am, where I am, what I'm doing. I might be afraid or confused, but I've seen how you are with scared people. You know what to say.” 

She put her hand on Yas' shoulder, looking into her eyes, and gulped. “Remind me that I've got something to come back to.” she choked out, quietly, face turning red. 

Ryan giggled and Graham said, “Oi what about us then.” 

“You're annoying!” retorted the doctor, sticking out her tongue. “Right – crash course in TARDIS defence systems, alien coding and assisted telepathy, coming up!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because I miss team TARDIS and I love you nerds. Sorry it's not as long but I'll write more soon. Constructive criticism will result in my writing a bomb - ass novel, I'm mostly doing this so people can pick apart my writing style. Let me know what you think of the formatting? I'm slowly working out this website.


	3. Chapter 3

The Doctor, claiming that there was little chance of the Gak having built a planetary defence system if they had only just started building missiles, landed the TARDIS in orbit first to scan the planet. 

“Okay that's not good.” she said worriedly. “I didn't expect good. Okay. One thing at a time. Find a rebel Gak. There must have been someone left behind.”

She danced around the console, jumping over cables. 

“What are you doing?” asked Ryan.

“Scanning the surface. It's covered in a semi – organic, distributed network. The whole planet must look like this room!” She gestured at the chaos around them. “I'm trying to locate any blank spots, unusual energy readings, anything out of the ordinary.”

“How will we communicate with them?” asked Graham.

“I downloaded their software on the ship whilst you were dawdling. Won't be an ideal interface, but they're quick. They'll work it out. Ah! There's an island! With very limited electrical activity, and quite a bit of recent damage... YES it's the blast – off site. We're going there.” 

She pulled the lever. “Let's see what we have.” 

The TARDIS's engines wheezed into life, then stopped with a dissatisfied clunk. 

“Short hop.” said the Doctor. “I'm putting up all the shields, because I don't know what's out there. Don't go more than two meters from the TARDIS until I say so.” 

She picked up a box off the floor. It had 10 holes in it. She whirred it with her sonic before turning to the doors.

“Why do you need that?” asked Ryan. “I mean, why the holes.” 

“The Gak can't communicate properly with just their voice, because they have ten brains, different parts handle different tasks. Only the front two control the voice, but other parts control different ideas and communicate using touch or colour. So they can't tell us everything just with their voice. Right.” She drew a deep breath. “Let's see what we have here.” 

 

They all trooped out of the TARDIS. They had landed in a wide circle of charred ground, surrounded by dense forests. The remains of cables, molten and burned, snaked across the ground. 

“Look at all that!” said the Doctor. “The whole planet must be like this, I can't imagine how long it would have taken to build. Every ounce of metal this planet has, combined with organic technology.” She waved her sonic around. “They didn't go wireless, probably for security reasons. Makes sense. We did the same. No way to hack the system remotely. But why cover the entire planet? Maybe they had sensors. Maybe they wanted info on everything that happens on the surface.” 

She looked around thoughtfully for a moment and then scrunched up her face. “I don't like it. Let's go find some Gak. Keep quiet and still if we do. Until I can persuade them to use this,” she waved the box at them, “any sudden moves will likely be interpreted as hostile. They've never seen aliens before.” 

“This seems dangerous.” said Ryan. 

“So is delaying. They'll have their missiles ready in a matter of hours.” 

“Well why don't we just find the missiles and blow 'em up?” asked Graham.

“Because I already located them, and they're in an inhabited area, and the blast would kill innocent peop – Gak. I know it's a risk. If anyone wants to stay, you can. I won't think any less of you. In fact, we don't need four people. Probably looks like more of a threat. Wasn't thinking.” 

“I'm coming with you.” said Ryan.

“Yeah there's no way you're leaving us behind.” 

The doctor looked at each of them. She briefly considered going back into the TARDIS under some pretence, and locking them in. But they'd cause more trouble when she got back, and there was little enough time. And she might need help.

“Stay close.” she said. 

They walked to the edge of the charred circle, and drew a deep breath before they crossed under the boughs of the forest. It was dense, muggy, and dark. They clambered over roots and branches, as often as not coloured red or purple in stead of brown. 

“No running in here.” remarked Graham.

“I don't want you running.” said the Doctor. 

“Look!” said Yas. 

There was something rustling in the undergrowth. 

“Stay still, all of you.”

There was a rustle before them, then behind. They were surrounded. Twelve Gak rose from the undergrowth simultaneously, each one rising on three legs. The doctor held out her box, hopefully, but they didn't seem to notice. Each Gak simultaneously took a step back towards the TARDIS, then another, keeping them encircled. The team had no choice but to be led back to the blackened circle of ground. 

“What do you think they want?” asked Ryan.

“I don't know and I don't want to antagonise them.” said the Doctor. 

They emerged from the forest, blinking. The Gak stood up higher on their three legs, and tucked their other tentacles around their bodies in the harsh sunlight. The doctor put the box on the ground, as far away from herself as possible, and stepped back. When none of the Gak made a move towards it, she sat down on the ground, gesturing for the others to do the same. One of the Gak finally stepped forward, and wrapped themselves around the box, cautiously inspecting it before plugging in. 

“Can you understand?” they said.

“Yes! Said the Doctor, jumping to her feet. Several of the Gak rattled at her. She stopped and sat back down quickly. 

“What happened here?” asked Yas. 

“How did you get here?” replied the Gak. 

They looked at the Doctor. She pointed at the TARDIS. “That's our ship. It works differently from the one that was built here. We met the crew of the ship that left from here.” she gestured widely at the circle of charred ground. “We came to find out what's going on, and to help them if we can, since they asked.” 

Graham held his breath. This was a bit of a gamble. What if they were on the side of the government? They weren't armed. He didn't fancy being strangled by an octopus, even an intelligent alien one.

“They are our friends.” said the Gak. 

The Doctor rose into a squatting position. “We want to help them, and find out what's gone wrong with your network. At least, we want to stop the missiles firing. But if you want things to change on this planet, we can look into that too. We were hoping for your help.” 

The Gak's eyes moved between them, then they unplugged themselves from the device and conferred with the others. The circle dissolved as Gak vocalised, changed colours and rubbed their arms together.

“Are you sure you know what you're doing, doc?” asked Graham. 

“Not at all. They could be lying. But why would they? If they're isolationists they could kill us or force us back in the TARDIS.”

All but one of the Gak started off for the edge of the forest at speed. The one who remained plugged themselves into the translator box again. 

“My name is Arlorg. What is your plan?”

“Where have your friends gone?”

“To sabotage the missiles. That is why we stayed behind.”

“Sabotage how?” asked the doctor, apprehensively.

“They must be destroyed on the ground. Our only hope now is to contact someone from another world. But you, are from another world. What is the plan?” 

“Not destroying half a city is my plan.” said the Doctor. "Wait a minute! Is that why the ship's designed how it is? Easy for bipeds to get around?"

"Yes. It is a diplomatic mission."

“Brilliant! I plan to infiltrate the network directly. Find out why it's behaving this way. I don't know much about your people Arlog, but the one's I've met are better than this. I can't believe your network is functioning normally.”

Arlog changed colour rapidly as she spoke. “A living mind cannot survive in the network for long. Even whilst compatible. We have tried, Doctor.” 

Her eyes widened as they said her name. “Well I haven't. How do you know me? I've never met a Gak, and my people stopped talking to yours before I was born.”

“The one knows many things from off this planet, and simply chooses not to reveal them. I was one who mounted the attack on the network. One of many. Fragments of information were gathered, enough to isolate this island and build a ship to escape, for some. Not enough to fix the network. Not enough to know more than your name and species, and that you have long been considered a threat by the one.”

“And you want to help us?”

“If there is hope that the plan will succeed.” 

“A lot more hope with your help. You can show us how we can best access the system! And keep the base code stable. How long do we have before your team blows up the missiles?”

“They will be detonated on lift off, to minimise casualties.”

The doctor shook her head, sadly.

   
   
  


Upon entering the TARDIS, Arlog froze, eyes spinning wildly. They scuttled outside, then came back in, then climbed one of the columns. Disconcertingly quickly, they raced around the edges of the control room, up and down the walls, eventually returning to the four bemused travellers, plugging into the box and announcing that they didn't understand.

“No time now.” said the Doctor.   


Arlog worked fast. They showed them how to connect to the network, explained how the sensors worked and how to bypass them. Knew of the most vulnerable points in the network and agreed to try to keep the connection stable whilst the doctor investigated. The Doctor had added an unexpected phase to the shielding, expecting a double cross, but phase one of the plan went off without a hitch. Arlog leading, they connected to the system, keeping within the TARDIS' shields, then each ran to their posts. 

   


Graham stood, tense, with his hands already on the first of the levers he was to operate (he had numbered them), staring blankly at the central column. The doors were open, so they could see what was going on outside. They wouldn't be closed until the final phase. He felt horribly exposed.

“Hey, granddad.” said Ryan from the chair he'd dragged into the console room for the occasion. “We're safe. The Doctor said they couldn't make it through all the shields, and even if they did we were going to de-materialise, as a final resort. Can't risk the TARDIS falling into the hands of a possibly hostile force, that's what the Doctor said.” 

“Well I hope you're right.” 

Ryan nodded and looked down at the screen in his lap. The task wasn't all that difficult. It was far easier to break something than it was to make it, but he still felt nervous. 

“How do you suppose Yas feels? The Doctor's relying on her.”

“She's relying on all of us, son. Don't take your work for granted.” 

   
   
Arlog had modified their translator and plugged themselves into the increasingly slapdash system. Their task was keeping the connection stable, adapting their own system to keep up with the Gak's network. The Doctor had thanked them profusely. 

Yas was worried sick. Beyond the crushing responsibility she felt, she worried she had not said enough, and that she would not get another chance, and that she was too much of a coward to do so regardless.

“You had better be careful in there, Doctor.” she said. 

“I will be. Listen, if Graham de-materialises, the TARDIS will go straight back to Sheffield. You're going to be safe.”

“I need you to be safe! Doctor, you're amazing. You save lives, every day. You have a responsibility to stay alive, to keep on running through the universe.” she paused, swallowing a lump in her throat. “And you've given me the universe, and you've given me myself, Doctor. So please, please be sensible.” 

At those last words, the doctor felt a tear in her eye. Yas pulled her into a hug and she buried her face in her friend's shoulder. 

“Yasmin Khan. I have no intention of leaving you. And you're brilliant.” 

They locked eyes for a minute, then the doctor pulled away, sat down on the bed and put on the headphones. 

“I've told you what to expect. Don't be frightened, and don't pull me out, no matter what happens.” She gave Yas a joyless smile, then flopped down limply on her back. Yas was terrified. 

   
   
The doctor was under water. Deep, deep down, blue sunlight barely visible above her. She felt her chest go tight with panic, but realised she could breathe. She was in the memory of the Gak, who were born in the depths, who breathed and spent a good portion of their lives under the ocean. She was safe, until the system recognised her and reminded her that she was not a Gak. 

She was nearing the surface by the time she found herself inhaling water in stead of air. Fighting the urge to cough and splutter, she strove for the surface. Gasping and coughing, she broke through into welcome sunlight. She was under a blue sky, with strange birds flying above her. Surprisingly, she could see land. She struck out, wondering what she would find.

Time lords have remarkable stamina but it was a long way even for her, especially when something grabbed her leg. As far as she could tell, it was only one Gak attacking her, first grabbing her legs and trying to pull her down, then her arms. As she struggled to keep swimming, tentacles wrapped around her limbs so tight she could feel them tearing at the skin. Between her greater size and sheer bloodymindedness, she made it to shore, where the Gak would not follow. Maybe they were tied to their own memories of the water. Maybe there was a plan. She was curled up on the sand, coughing and shivering and holding her bruised limbs, when a shadow fell over her.

“Hello sweetie.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "If they threaten to kill you, die faster!"
> 
> -The Twelfth Doctor

The Doctor knew none of this was real. Not her real body, not real injuries, not a real River Song. She closed her eyes and put her hands over her ears, curled up in a ball of cold and pain.  
“I deny this reality.” she said, inside her head where not – River couldn't hear her. Hands grabbed one of her arms, dragging it away from her ear. River had always been strong, but that was easy enough to manufacture. She gritted her teeth as not – River, not her dead wife, even though she looked like her, sounded like her, smelled like her, started speaking.  
“I deny you!” she screamed, willing the apparition to disappear, trying to yank her hand back. Which was a mistake. Fighting an idea makes it stronger, and she was stuck in a realm of ideas.  
Not – River slapped her smartly across the face. The Doctor's ears rang and as she fought the momentary confusion that came with the pain, River bent down and whispered her name in her ear.  
Everything around the Doctor solidified. The fake gravity in this fake world pulled at her, weariness setting in. There was sand in her mouth and the sun was too hot and she could see every speck of sand as nails dug painfully into her already – bruised wrist and dragged her exhausted body back towards the ocean. Real nails. This was River. They had River. Only River knew her name. River was trying to kill her. Again. She panicked and tried to pull away again. What had they done? A second had grabbed her by the hair and pulled her partway up to her knees, twisting her head to the side. Soft lips brushed her neck and then she was shoved back under the water, and held there. River would know how long this would take. There would be no foxing her way out of this one.

Virtual reality was a bit like a dream. You don't necessarily die in real life if you die in a dream. Most of the time you wake up panting, still feeling the pain of the stab wound or the rush of the wind as you plummet to the ground. And maybe you have a bad day.  
What if you can't wake up though? What if you lose control and die again and again, your demise orchestrated by your best friend?

 _Yas. Yas! Can you hear me?_  
“Yes Doctor! What's going on?”  
The Doctor had told Yasmin to speak out loud. Trying to speak in your head tended to allow all sorts of unnecessary thoughts and confusing imagery come through the link. The Doctor could do it, of course. Or said she could, but Yas felt a choking sense of dread.  
_Oh, well... I've found my way in all right and the system is functioning on a base level, which is good news! It's a decent replica of the Gak homeworld and not a confusing jumble of numbers and images._  
 _But I'm a bit stuck at the moment, Yas. I need your advice._  
“Anything. What's happening?”  
_Yas... how would you win in a fight?_  
“Doctor! I've seen you stop a man with one finger. What's going on?”  
_Arlog was right. The system has defences against me specifically. It knows how to beat me. You, on the other hand... You have police training, what would you do?_  
“Well first of all try to avoid the fight if you -”  
_Too late I assure you_  
“Well then if you're in real danger, you have to get out of there. Do you have a weapon?”  
_No weapon. Empty pockets._  
“What's happening? Who are you fighting? What are they doing?”  
_Suppose you were being held down... by your hair. And your throat._  
Yas felt her heart beat faster. She struggled to not ask the doctor again what was happening. “Go for the eyes if you can reach, then try to push them away with your feet. Or, if you can reach their legs, try to unbalance them. Fight dirty.”  
_Fight dirty. Didn't think of that._  
So the doctor did what Yas had said. She went for River's eyes first, then kneed her in the groin, then kicked her back onto the sand. She felt separate from her own body as she did so, like it was someone else moving her hands and feet, and she watched with vague disgust. Then she did the easiest thing in the world, and ran away.

Or rather swum away. You see, the advantage went both ways. Whatever they had done to her, the Doctor had fought River before. River had a vindictive streak and liked things personal, like a cat. Dead prey was worthless to her, she had to kill it herself. So the Doctor swam out into the ocean. River yelled after her, but did not follow, for now. The Doctor ignored her. She still felt separate from her body.

This time nothing attacked her. She swam until she was out of sight of land. She'd been inside these types of programs before. She knew that, with enough willpower and focus she could distort reality out here. Heal her injuries, Make a boat, conjure up a weapon. Heck, she could probably make herself a loyal shark if she dug up enough motivation.  
“The water is cold.” She said out loud. “Really cold. And it's windy!” She could feel the temperature dropping as she spoke. She took the trouble to look up at the once sunny sky and found it grey and cloudy. Treading water, she continued -  
“There's a storm coming in! Fast! Woe is me!!!” She laughed maniacally as the wind began whipping the waves higher around her. She couldn't let herself start coughing. She wasn't done yet.  
“Really, now that River's put me in a tight spot, the system could probably take over! She might want to kill me slowly but you just want me gone, right?! Keep your race pure, preserve your history!”  
Something brushed against her leg. She grinned.

 _Yas!_  
“Doctor!”  
_You sounded worried earlier. Just letting you know I'm all right. Thanks to you. Good advice. Keep it up. I'll be in touch soon._  
“Doctor you're moving – like, your face is twitching. Your real face. On the TARDIS.”  
_Perfectly normal adrenal response, Yas. Sorry if it worried you._  
“And I think your thoughts are leaking through somehow. When we spoke before, I was worried. But now I'm really, really cold. What's going on?”  
_Everything's under control Yas. I'll talk to you soon. Just got to sort out one or two things right now._  
“Remember what I said, Doctor. You have a duty. To the universe. And to us. And I can't lose you!”  
_Thank you very much, Yasmin Khan._

The Doctor was under water again. The Gak had dragged her down, more than one this time, she guessed. She was working hard at holding her breath as she kicked her way to the surface. There was pain, but when wasn't there? She leaned into it as she leaned into the cold and the wind as her head breached the waves.  
“You never know!” She yelled up at the sky. “Storm like this, there could be lightning! And me in all this salt water..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like this one better than the last one. Enjoy! (I hope)

**Author's Note:**

> Let us know what you think. More words incoming. Planning to have some more serious tensions between the team in the next chapter. If you haven't seen a video of an octopus walking on two tentacles, look it up it's amazing.


End file.
